


Trust

by makesometime



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Knifeplay, Mass Effect Kink Meme, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-11
Updated: 2011-12-11
Packaged: 2017-11-08 03:18:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/438549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makesometime/pseuds/makesometime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zaeed, Shepard and those knives...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for [this prompt](http://masseffectkink.livejournal.com/1866.html?thread=2369610#t2369610) at the Mass Effect Kink Meme.

It had been a couple of days since they'd left Zorya when Shepard visited Starboard Cargo again. The Normandy was docked at Omega, and she'd given the crew a few hours shore leave before the hunt for Archangel began.  
  
There was absolutely no reason for Zaeed to be on board - he had cause to celebrate, after all. Vido was dead, his long-sought revenge finally found. With Afterlife only five minutes away, why he'd still be hanging around the ship was anyone's guess.  
  
Well... except, perhaps, Shepard's herself.  
  
He was, after all, waiting for _her_.  
  
It was a smug, arrogant and bloody infuriating trait he'd picked up alarmingly quickly during the past week. She visited him at the same time every day so, to be fair, he was within his rights to smirk at her timed-like-clockwork presence in his quarters. But as he stood there, leaning against the wall while doing just that, she wished to God she'd gone to see Aria instead. Just to throw him off a bit and regain her tenuous control over their twisted little relationship.  
  
He wasn't even wearing his armour, signalling his complete disregard of her position and authority and his knowledge of what she was there to get from him. He approached her slowly in his cargo pants and wifebeater and she forced her expression neutral. She would not give him the satisfaction of her appreciation.  
  
"D'you trust me, Shepard?"  
  
She threw her head back with a derisive laugh. "Of course not."  
  
He hummed his interest, still advancing. "Yet you helped me kill Vido."  
  
"Seemed like the quickest and easiest way to ensure your loyalty." She said, holding her ground in the face of his progress towards her. She would never give ground to anyone, least of all him.  
  
"So you know I'm loyal, but you don't trust me? How's that work?" He asked, eyebrow raised.   
  
"Loyalty is knowing you won't shoot me during a battle with the enemy." She returned, crossing her arms and jutting out a hip. "Trust is believing you won't switch sides halfway through if they offer you a better deal."  
  
His eyes darkened at her suggestion. Growling low in his throat he pushed hard against her hips to shove her into the wall. "I'm no traitor, girlie."  
  
"And I'm no girl, Massani." She responded, pushing futilely against his greater weight. He had her pinned with his lower body and despite the freedom of her arms she couldn't easily remove him.  
  
He trailed his hands up her sides, fingers brushing the undersides of her breasts as he chuckled. "Don't I know it?"  
  
Shepard struggled harder at his amusement, leg pushing between his own to rest warningly close to his groin. "Let me go, Massani, before I make you."  
  
Zaeed leaned in, hot breath trailing along the exposed skin of her neck as he levelled his mouth with her ear. “I don't think so.”  
  
Shepard felt a tug at her side as his hands left her body, then the sharp sound of metal on metal. Looking down she saw he had pulled her fatigues out and secured them to the wall with one of his damn knives. Her momentary lapse of concentration allowed him to pull another previously-unseen knife from his belt and do the same to her other side before he quickly grabbed her wrists to pin her hands by her head.  
  
"Bastard." She ground out, but didn't struggle. A couple of blades forced into a wall without great force were nothing to her, she could be away from them with a quick heft of strength if she wanted to be. But something in his gaze suggested it would be worth her time to stay where she was, for now.  
  
He grinned wickedly at her. "Never in doubt, doll. Now, hold still, there's a good girl."He stepped away from her slowly, cautiously, still doubting that she would listen to him. His hands were the last thing to leave her, allowing her to drop her arms back to her sides and, if she chose to, remove the knives. Instead she pressed her palms flat against the wall, forearms just brushing the hilt of each knife.  
  
"For someone who doesn't trust me, you're doing a damn fine job of doing what I tell you." Zaeed said, walking backwards across the room.  
  
"I _don't_ trust you." Shepard said. "But I can follow orders with the best of them."  
  
"Don't expect me to believe I can order you to do anything." He laughed. "You're tolerating this because you're wondering what I'm gonna do to you."  
  
Shepard watched as he picked up a knife from one of the crates, twirling it through surprisingly nimble fingers. It was only then that she realised he had her up against his usual dartboard, her head perfectly in the centre of the 'target'. From the way he was smirking at her he had noticed her moment of realisation and had apparently engineered the whole situation on purpose.  
  
"You plan this?" She asked.  
  
"Who, me?" He said, now throwing the blade from hand to hand carelessly. "What makes you say that?"  
  
She scowled at him, which apparently only furthered his supreme amusement at the whole situation. "You're a dick, Massani."  
  
"And you're a bitch, Shepard. I can trade insults all day." He drawled.  
  
"How about you just get the hell on with what you're going to do?" She shot back. "Or are you going to wimp out on me? Big bad Zaeed doesn't have the balls to-."  
  
Her words were cut off when Zaeed silently lined himself up and threw the knife towards her head. It swerved at the last moment and landed a couple of inches from her left cheek, embedding in the metal with a whoosh and screech, her hair fluttering against the side of her face. She let out a breath she had reflexively held at the sight of the blade coming straight for her, hoping he wouldn't notice her hurried exhalation.  
  
"You get any closer than that, I'll make you watch as I put your limbs one by one in the damn trash compactor and shoot them out into space." She growled.  
  
Zaeed grinned at her. "If I wanted to hit you'd I'd have done it by now. Who'd save the galaxy without Commander Fucking Shepard around?" He said, mockingly. He threw another knife without warning, landing it even closer on her other side. "Sure as hell won't be me."  
  
"No, that would involve too much effort, right?" Shepard said, relaxing into the support the wall provided, ignoring the two pieces of metal protruding either side of her head. "Considering all the help you needed to take down _one man_."  
  
He growled at her, snatching up another knife and aiming at her torso. It flew past her upper right arm, too close this time as it sliced through the arm of her fatigues. Shepard grimaced, expecting a matching pain in her body that never came. Looking down she saw the blade had twisted just enough to not cut her skin, instead pressing cold steel against her now-exposed skin.  
  
"You trust me yet?" Zaeed said, leaning back against the railing in his usual position.  
  
"Bullshit, that was a lucky throw." Shepard spat.  
  
Zaeed shrugged. "Was it? Like to see you prove it."  
  
Shepard scowled. "You think that this screwed up little exercise is going to make me trust you? Need something a little more impressive, Massani. You have to _earn_ it, just like everyone else."  
  
Zaeed nodded, smirk back in place as he looked completely unconcerned by her words. "Okay princess, you asked for it."He turned to the crate and picked up the five remaining knives, turning them over in his hands as he lined himself up with her carefully.  
  
And then closed his eyes.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute." Shepard said as his arm raised, the first flicker of worry passing through her. "You didn't say anything about doing this blind."  
  
"Didn't say much about doing it at all." He said, practising his throw a couple of times. "Hasn't bothered you so far."  
  
"Massani I swear to God..." Shepard ground out, eyes fixed on the blade about to make its way towards her.  
  
"Relax." He drawled. " _Trust me_."  
  
Shepard forced her eyes open as the first knife left his hand, barely having time to focus on its approach as a second, and then a third joined it in its flight. They were all rushing towards various areas of her body, too fast, too close, too _sharp_. She was an idiot. **He** was an idiot.  
  
She grit her teeth as the first landed, an inch from her left knee. The second, between her legs just low enough for comfort. The third hit the wall by her right hip; the fourth by her left shoulder.  
  
The fifth landed between her right thumb and index finger.  
  
She left out a heavy breath, turning it into a clearing of her throat when she realised quite how audible it was.  
  
"You're such an ass." She huffed.  
  
"I think you'll find that's _impressive_ ass."  
  
Shepard couldn't help a genuine laugh, blaming it on the build-up of nervous energy. "Think a lot of yourself don't you?"  
  
"Justified, I reckon." He said, walking over to stand a few feet in front of her, noting with approval that she hadn't moved despite being able to do so. "'Sides, you must find me _fascinating_ , amount of time you spend down here."  
  
Shepard scoffed. "I spend time with everyone, you're hardly special."  
  
Zaeed stepped forward, close enough now for her to feel his body heat against her. "You keep telling yourself that, love."  
  
Shepard let her eyes fall closed as he leaned in, mouth hovering over her jawline. When she was convinced he was committed to the movement she struck, lifting her hands silently away from the wall to grab the two pinning her fatigues, yanking them out and holding them at his throat before he could even move away.  
  
"Oh, I think I will." She said, pressing them harder into his skin to follow as he moved his head back. "Step away, please."  
  
He sneered at her triumphant grin. "Since you asked so _nicely_."  
  
Shepard kept pushing until he was stood in the middle of the room, hands held defensively at his sides. "What should I do with you?" She mused, eyes sparkling with humour at besting him.  
  
"How 'bout you pay more attention?" Zaeed said, causing her to frown.   
  
Quick as a flash his hand reached behind to pull a final knife out of his belt, pressing it against her own throat before she could step away. His other hand came up to twist the wrist of her left hand until she gave, dropping the knife to the floor. She adjusted her grip on the one remaining weapon before he could consider doing anything to overpower her further.  
  
And so they stood. Opposing hands pressing cold metal into each other's throats in a perfect stalemate.  
  
"Now what?" Shepard said, circling her injured wrist to loosen the tightness he had left behind.  
  
He lifted one shoulder, lazily unconcerned. "Could always just fuck, find it works particularly well in these situations."  
  
Shepard rolled her eyes in disgust. She did. Well... she tried to. Instead she suspected her pupils blew wide and her breathing sped up after the bolt of desire that ran through her at his words, given the way he grinned at her. The whole situation was ridiculous, the man was old enough to be her father – though, granted, she suspected had her father been alive today the merc would still have been a little younger.  
  
Didn't make much difference in the grand scheme of things, bastard still knew how to press her buttons. He was safe in the knowledge that she wasn't visiting him every day for his thrilling war stories and was taking a leap. Unfortunately, she was having a hard time convincing her body it wasn't interested in the full extent of his... talents.  
  
"That line ever worked before?" She asked, hoping her voice didn't sound as breathy as it had every right to.  
  
"Doesn't matter, looks like it has now."“So sure of yourself, Massani.” Shepard purred, running the flat of the blade across his neck to rest on his shoulder. It slipped underneath and cut through the strap of his top, before moving across to the other side and doing the same. “Why is that?”  
  
“Why not?” He replied, arm holding his knife against her throat steady as ever. “A damn hot, powerful woman is removing my clothing with one of _my_ knives. Nothing to complain about there and sure as hell no reason not to be a cocky SOB.”  
  
Shepard smiled a little, trailing the tip of her knife across his collarbone and then snapping it down quickly through the remains of his top so that it fell from his body and fluttered to the ground. Stripped to the waist and revealed to her eyes for the first time she let her gaze travel over him lazily, taking the sight in. And what a sight it was.  
  
Zaeed twisted the knife at her throat in his grip, so that the very tip of it pressed hard into her voice box. “Do you trust me?”  
  
She remained silent this time, only raising an eyebrow.  
  
“Now we're getting somewhere.” He shot her a crooked grin before ever so slowly running the knife down, slicing through the material of her top. He kept going down over her chest, the material parting in the knife's wake, until he reached the band of her bra. She inclined her head curiously at him and he pushed hard enough to work through the thicker material, releasing the underwear's hold on her. He continued until he reached her waistline and there she stood before him, one shoulder shrug away from being completely exposed to him.  
  
So, in an effort to level the playing field a little, she did just that.  
  
He snarled at her confidence; throwing both knives to one side he grabbed her hips and lifted her, carrying her over to the table at the side of the room. Shepard watched, amused, as he carefully picked up Jessie and put her to one side before returning to her.  
  
“Legs.” He said and she parted them instantly, allowing him to step between. He ran a hand along her jaw and tipped her head up to look at him. “Why do I get the feeling you're gonna deck me any second?”  
  
“Who's the one going on about trust here?” She responded, wrapping one leg around his thigh, the other higher around his hip. “You've got me where you want me? Do something about it.”  
  
He ducked his head and captured her lips to stop her words, hands purposely ignoring her bare torso in favour of working at the button of her pants. Shepard leant back on her hands, forcing him to follow her with a tug of her strong legs until his chest pressed up against her and enjoying the feel of her tight nipples against his skin.   
  
She lifted her hips at the sound of her zipper being lowered and allowed him out of the circle of her legs to pull them down and off her, leaving her bare underneath. A rumble of laughter signalled his pleasure at _that_ discovery and he stepped back to admire her, arms crossed over his chest.Leaving her on the table, exposed and breathing heavily, Zaeed walked over to the wall to grab one of the larger knives with a longer, thicker hilt. Shepard watched him, toying with the idea of ordering him back to her but realising that would let him know exactly how much she wanted him - he didn't deserve that kind of knowledge.  
  
"Do you trust me?" He asked again, holding the blade in between them both.  
  
"Maybe." She managed, flexing the muscles in her legs just a bit, keeping them purposely wide.  
  
"See, I don't quite believe that yet." He said, flipping the knife so he held the blade pinched between thumb and forefinger.  
  
She couldn't stop her eyes widening as he lowered his hand, running the hilt from her belly button downwards. He continued when she expected him to stop and Shepard bit her lip when she realised his intention, not saying a word.  
  
The cold metal of the hilt made contact with her clit and she sucked in a gasp of air at the feel against her heat. He circled a couple of times and she couldn't help the little moan that escaped.  
  
"Dirty bitch." He said, but it was pleased, delighted even.  
  
He let the hilt move further down, running through her wetness easily. The path he was taking was slow, torturous and she just about contained a whimper and an urge for him to keep going. He had unspeakable power over her right now, no need to inflate his ego too.  
  
And then the blunt pressure of the metal was at her entrance, almost but not quite penetrating.  
  
"Trust me?"  
  
"Fuck! Yes, goddamn it!" She groaned, rocking her hips forward.  
  
He chuckled low in his throat and pushed the knife forward as far as he could safely move it in one thrust. Shepard moaned long and low, head tipped back as she spread her thighs further.  
  
Zaeed leant over her, bracing one arm by her side as the other rhythmically thrust the hilt into and out of her in time with her laboured breathing. She could feel his breath heavy on her shoulder before he pressed his mouth to her skin, biting and sucking at her most sensitive spots.  
  
"You. Bastard." She said breathily, moving one arm up to curl around his neck as her other began to shake with the effort of holding her body upright.  
  
"Fine way to talk to someone getting you off." He said against her neck; she could feel his lips curl against her as he twisted the hilt within her and was rewarded with a shudder.  
  
"Not even you... just a bit of metal." She grunted, pushing back against the hilt.  
  
"My talented hands though." He said. "But if you're not appreciating it." He withdrew the knife in one movement to leave her whimpering.  
  
" _Massani_." She warned.  
  
He didn't even hesitate before plunging the hilt back into her. The metal was warmer now but the suggestion, the danger - _that_ was intoxicating.  
  
She felt herself building back up to the release he'd stolen from her and the last conscious part of her mind considered her capitulation to this pig of a man. What was it about him that she allowed to dominate and steal her control away, something she had been gripping onto with ever strengthening fingers since her resurrection - to allow him to fuck her with a knife in her own damn ship and make sure she was enjoying it?  
  
Was she that in need of human contact - or did it speak to a deeper held desire she hadn't contemplated before?  
  
He changed his hold on the blade so that the heel of his hand brushed her clit on every stroke and she promptly lost the ability to theorise. Tightening her grip around his shoulders she broke, shouting her release in his ear.  
  
He grinned at her when he pulled away, throwing the knife so it skittered along the table and onto the floor.He barely gave her time to catch her breath before he dropped his pants and pushed a hand against her sternum to get her flat on her back. He picked up her legs and wound them to lock around his waist and then thrust, one hard single motion, burying himself deep within her.  
  
She goddamn _wailed_ at the sudden intrusion and he was certain they'd hear her up in the CIC. Just to make extra certain he flicked at her clit and she screwed her eyes shut, jaw clenching and unclenching as she fought the urge to scream.  
  
"Give in." He commanded, hands on her hips as he rolled his against hers. "Make sure the whole damn ship knows exactly what you're doing and who you're, _Christ_ , doing it with."  
  
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" She asked, scowling up at him. "Gonna have to move you to the hangar if your ego keeps growing."  
  
He smirked, running a hand up her side to cup her breast and pinch her nipple. "Stop giving it reason to do so, doll."  
  
She rolled her eyes now, clamping her inner muscles down on him and laughing as his rhythm stuttered. His hands moved to her backside and lifted slightly, changing the angle at which he entered her.  
  
"Give in." He said again.  
  
"No! I wouldn't give you the, _ah_ , satisfaction." She ground out.  
  
He laughed, punctuating the throaty sound with a particularly heavy thrust. "Don't have to worry about my satisfaction."  
  
Shepard felt a second orgasm building but she'd be damned if he was going to get her off twice before she reciprocated - the man would be unbearable. She pulled on every piece of training she'd ever received to halt her progress towards the edge, running her nails along his skin and digging in to silently urge him on.  
  
"Harder." She groaned, locking her hands around his biceps. " _Harder_."  
  
"Alright, alright..." He said, complying instantly. Shepard looked up to see his mouth twisted in a half-smile, half-grimace. "Mouthy bitch." He muttered, and it was almost... fond?  
  
The lapse in concentration that followed her realisation allowed all of the sensations she'd been ignoring to sneak up on her. She tipped her head back and let out a long, low moan, jerking him forward so he hovered over her, hands braced either side of her head.  
  
"Look at me." He said. She refused with a shake of her head. "Look. At. Me."   
  
Her eyes locked onto his mismatched ones and the strange mix of desire, amusement and something... else... that she saw within was enough to break her. She pulsed around him, drawing him along with her and he gave a hoarse shout as he followed her into oblivion.  
  
It was only when she noticed the triumphant glint in his eye as he sagged against her, pressing his forehead against her shoulder, that she _got_ it. She knew why he'd done it, why he'd _really_ done it. He couldn't stand that she had literal power over him, not used to being under someone's control after so long. The only option he had was to make a stand and break her resolve – which he had accomplished without her even putting up a fight.   
  
She hated herself a bit for that, for not attempting to hold her position at the prospect of a really great lay.  
  
"This whole stupid exercise wasn't ever about me trusting you was it?" Shepard asked, tracing patterns over his back in a decidedly too-affectionate manner considering how fucking irritated by him she was.   
  
She'd blame it on the endorphins later.  
  
"Hell no." Zaeed laughed. "That's just an added bonus."  
  
"Not that I do. Trust you, that is." She reminded him.  
  
"No." He said with a smirk. "You're too goddamn smart for that."


End file.
